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A highly emotional deadlocked jury resulted in a mistrial being declared Friday in the case of a mentally ill Edmonton woman accused of beating her mother to death with a hammer.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil declared the mistrial after the jury foreman confirmed that a cooling-off period had not been of assistance and the jurors were unable to continue.

The judge had suggested to the jurors that they take some time to cool off before making a decision after noting he had been informed that one female juror had "broken down" and was "sobbing uncontrollably" and two others were very upset and crying.

In closing arguments on Tuesday, prosecutor Danielle Green argued the Crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Kirsten Lamb intended to kill her mother and it was not done in self-defence.

Green noted the victim suffered at least 30 hammer blows to her head and face and two to four cuts to her neck and said the level of violence was "completely inconsistent" with someone who was scared and defending herself.

"She did so out of rage, not fear. She intended to kill Sandra Lamb," said Green, adding Kirsten Lamb then left the scene and committed a series of intentional acts to hide her involvement, including discarding the weapons, throwing out her bloody clothes and cleaning her car.

The prosecutor also rejected the defence claim that the schizophrenic killer was delusional at the time and should be found not criminally responsible, noting a psychiatrist testified it appeared her mental illness was not as severe as it was in 2014 and she would have appreciated the nature of her actions and knew they were wrong.

Defence lawyer Mona Duckett urged the jury to find that Kirsten Lamb had killed her mother in self-defence, saying they should believe her when she testified her mother had attacked her with the hammer first, and she grabbed it from her and "lost it" out of fear for her three children.

Duckett also suggested to the jurors that if they rule it wasn't self-defence, but decide Kirsten Lamb simply believes she was defending herself, they could accept she was delusional and find her not criminally responsible.

She also told the jury they could convict her of manslaughter if they reject that she acted in self-defence or was delusional, but find that the Crown has not proven intent.

Court has heard the victim's body was discovered in a blood-stained basement laundry room at her Capilano-area home. A medical examiner testified she died from blunt cranial trauma and said her neck was also nearly completely severed, although he believes she was likely already dead at the time.

As Advertised in the Edmonton SUN

Mistrial declared in case of Edmonton woman accused of murdering her mother with hammer

A highly emotional deadlocked jury resulted in a mistrial being declared Friday in the case of a mentally ill Edmonton woman accused of beating her mother to death with a hammer.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil declared the mistrial after the jury foreman confirmed that a cooling-off period had not been of assistance and the jurors were unable to continue.

The judge had suggested to the jurors that they take some time to cool off before making a decision after noting he had been informed that one female juror had "broken down" and was "sobbing uncontrollably" and two others were very upset and crying.